NOSTALGIA: Wrens show the boys how to do it

The original Royal Sailors' Rest was located along Commercial Road, Landport, until the night of January 10, 1941, when it was razed by the Luftwaffe.
By The Newsroom
Published 23rd Apr 2018, 13:32 BST
Updated 23rd Apr 2018, 13:36 BST
HM Submarine P556 is berthed at (as it was then ) Fort Blockhouse. Wrens are pushing the torpedo. (Mike Nolan coll.)HM Submarine P556 is berthed at (as it was then ) Fort Blockhouse. Wrens are pushing the torpedo. (Mike Nolan coll.)
HM Submarine P556 is berthed at (as it was then ) Fort Blockhouse. Wrens are pushing the torpedo. (Mike Nolan coll.)

But here we see the building in happier times during the 1920s.

A naval band is passing by and I think it comprises youngsters possibly from HMS Excellent Cadet Corps, but stand to be corrected.

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On the wall to the right can be seen the letters CR for Crasswell Street.

Former HM Submarine P556 abandoned in Harry Pounds yard. (Roger Allen)Former HM Submarine P556 abandoned in Harry Pounds yard. (Roger Allen)
Former HM Submarine P556 abandoned in Harry Pounds yard. (Roger Allen)

After the war the Sailors’ Rest moved to the corner of Edinburgh Road and Unicorn Road.

•As you might know, Mayfield School in Mayfield Road, North End, Portsmouth, is to be demolished and a new school built close by.

The original school was opened on October 7, 1932, with the attendance of the lord mayor Alderman Foster along with his wife Mrs FG Foster.

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Mrs Foster appears to be handing out prizes but it might be a scroll of some kind to commemorate the opening of the school.

Mrs FG Foster wife of Alderman Foster and lord mayor of the city hands out prizes on the opening day of Mayfield School. (Robert James coll.)Mrs FG Foster wife of Alderman Foster and lord mayor of the city hands out prizes on the opening day of Mayfield School. (Robert James coll.)
Mrs FG Foster wife of Alderman Foster and lord mayor of the city hands out prizes on the opening day of Mayfield School. (Robert James coll.)

•Formerly the United States Navy’s USS S-29, this submarine was transferred to the Royal Navy in 1942 as HMS P556. In 1943 she was in Portsmouth in an anti-submarine role.

She was damaged by a battery explosion on January 29, 1944, and decommissioned and placed in reserve.

On January 26, 1945, she was given back to the United States but in name only.

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She ended up being sold to John Pounds and languished at his scrapyard at Portchester until the yard was moved to Tipner where P556 also ended up.

Pictured passing the Royal Sailors Rest in Commercial Road, Landport, we see what looks like a cadet band parading.  Picture: Robert James CollectionPictured passing the Royal Sailors Rest in Commercial Road, Landport, we see what looks like a cadet band parading.  Picture: Robert James Collection
Pictured passing the Royal Sailors Rest in Commercial Road, Landport, we see what looks like a cadet band parading.  Picture: Robert James Collection

She remained in a stagnant state until broken up in the mid-1970s.

In the first photograph we see P556 in happier days berthed at Fort Blockhouse, later HMS Dolphin. Note the Wrens pushing a torpedo on a cradle located on a narrow gauge railway.

In the second picture we see the sad end of P556 in Pounds’ yard at Tipner.

In the background you can just make out the recently-built M275.

The conning tower has been removed leaving just the hull to be dismantled more than 40 years after she was built.

Related topics:NostalgiaPortsmouth